Rhino Investment Partners Inc Decreases Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Rhino Investment Partners Inc lowered its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,431 shares of the bank's stock after selling 56,449 shares during the period. Popular comprises about 5.8% of Rhino Investment Partners Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Rhino Investment Partners Inc owned approximately 0.39% of Popular worth $26,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Popular by 7.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank's stock worth $105,769,000 after buying an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Popular by 1,719.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 35,699 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 304.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 75,164 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank's stock worth $128,192,000 after purchasing an additional 39,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Hovde Group cut their price objective on shares of Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $125.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.14.

Popular Trading Up 3.0 %

BPOP stock traded up $2.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 469,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,186. The firm's 50-day moving average is $90.59 and its 200-day moving average is $95.14. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.23 and a 12 month high of $106.81. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Popular's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.